Her whole life, it had just been the two of them. Before her mother’s last breath, she gave Camille the information she had craved her entire life: the identity of her father. Daring to contact him, Camille was welcomed by an entire family she never knew existed. But nothing comes without a price, as she discovers when her family claims a legendary heritage tracing back to a centaur touched by Zeus.

As she learns the secrets of her Centaur bloodline, she is drawn into a forbidden love with Drake. Her life may be the blood debt required to pay for her mother’s transgressions. The same person who once held her mother captive, and forced her into decades of hiding, now controls Camille. Her only chance is to seek a piece of her mother’s past that will win her freedom and the life she desperately wants.

I LOVE Starbucks’ White Mocha Latte and Mountain Dew, (but not together). I have a lead foot so I set cruise control when I drive, even in 25 MPH zones. I almost never win when I play Angry Birds, but have my 8 year old close, so he can clear the hard levels for me. I grew up on a farm and am opposed to eating fresh chicken (not opposed to meat - just opposed to any meat that was alive a few hours before lunch). I am a huge fan of the show, Big Bang Theory, on CBS. I have a stray cat that I feed every night and morning but she’s never let me get closer than within 3 feet of her – I keep thinking eventually I’ll wear her down and she’ll let me pet her. I share my life with two fantastic sons, three rotten dogs and a husband that I adore.

Imagine being told at your mother's death bed that the father you've been wanting to know about all of your twenty-two years is alive and mom reveals the information you need to contact him. Before she leaves you alone, she tells you to seek him out. What do you do? If you're Camille, you search his info and contact him. When he's surprised to hear he has a grown daughter and wants you to fly out that night to see him, you do. He's your only living family, right?

Well, wrong. In Camille's case, she gets more than just a father. She finds a complete family waiting for her in South Carolina: five grown brothers close in age, a devoted mother and a pleasing father. But something doesn't feel right. Her step brothers don't date, even if they age from twenty-eight and younger. When her step mother lets Camille in on the family 'secret' suddenly having a strange family is not so strange--not when your own family heritage is you hail from a line of Centaurs, you have a grandmother, and you owe someone a blood debt your mother created by disappearing when she was a teen.

Whew! That's all? Joking aside, Camille has to adjust all within a week of arriving at her new father's home to all of this news. That's a lot to deal with and she does. At a wedding of her oldest stepbrother, she meets the man her mother was supposed to marry and to whom she now owes the blood debt. He wants her to marry his son, Drake. As the story progresses, Drake turns out to be the best guy around. Not only is he hot, he's sweet and downright swoon-inducing. Camille has to deal with her conniving grandmother and uncle and some other things like adjusting to Centaur life and using magic. She also has a best friend named Daniel.

I haven't read many stories with Centaurs, none featuring these mythological creatures as the leading characters. Blood Debt has an intriguing premise, a likable heroine in Camille and a slew of interesting Centaurs, especially Bianca and Drake. I wasn't a fan of the multiple points-of-view. From Camille to her grandmother to a few others, switching from one narrator to another at times was jarring. I would have preferred just two or three narrating (since there are so many characters mentioned it was easier to follow with a smaller amount of narrators). I did find myself with questions about the Centaurs, their history and their usage of magic and since this is the first in a series, I guess my answers may be found in future installments. The story started off with a quick pace and slowed in spots, I guess to allow readers to grab a drink (lol), and then continued on in a steady pace. I enjoyed Nancy Straight's paranormal tale with mythological creatures.

Rating: 3.5

1/2

Cover comment:

Nice picture of a young woman but this cover simply doesn't convey what the story is about.